1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a switchable attenuator and more particularly to a switchable attenuator utilizing a pivotable rocker arm assembly and resilient connectors for providing attenuation of preselected magnitudes to an external circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In numerous prior art attenuator structures it has been common to provide attenuation to an external circuit utilizing a slideable attenuator assembly. The slideable attenuator assembly ordinarily includes a slideable arm having conductive contact members at each end thereof. The conductive contact members are selectively engageable with switching contact pads connected to circuits on an attenuator circuit substrate to establish circuit paths on the substrate and thereby provide attenuation in the external circuit.
The very nature of the slideable attenuator assembly design requires that the conductive members and contact pads be engageable on the planar surface of the attenuator circuit. As a result, a large amount of space is required in the plane of the circuit to accommodate switching. In addition, utilizing this arrangement makes it necessary to provide switching contact pads which are made of conductive materials which insure very high reliability. Materials of this nature are required to insure the integrity of the electrical connections established between the conductive contact members and the switching contact pads. This requirement is most often satisified by utilizing very precious conductive materials such as, for example, rhodium and/or gold to form the switching contact pads. The space requirements and the quantity of precious conductive materials that must be used results in an expensive attenuator structure. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a reliable attenuator structure which does not require the space and quantity of conductive materials required in manufacturing the aforementioned attenuator structure.